1994 Wisconsin NAFA State Tournament
| PLEASANTVILLE-Evansville Bowl swept four
straight games to gain a berth to the Class AA NAFA World Series and
claim WI NAFA Class AA state title. Evansville won by scores of 2-0,
2-1, 2-0, and 2-0. Every team in the tournament except Dan's Bar and
Schmidt's Ballroom outscored them. Pitching dominated the tournament.
Larry Cushman and Mike White shared the duties for Bowl.
Evansville opened the tournament with a message of what was to come, a perfect game by Mike White in beating the host Pleasantville Lions/Hwy 53 bar 2-0. In the next game, Wausau Rep & Brums scored the only run off the eventual champs, an unearned run. Keith Sarbacher doubled in the bottom of the 7th driving in Darin Magee to give Evansville a 2-1 win. Losing pitcher Kevin Leick set a WI NAFA state record striking out 11. Larry Cushman hurled the win, retiring the last 15 batters in order. In the winning bracket finals, Larry Cushman went against Bryan Lathrop of the Portage Merchants. Mark Zee homered in the 4th inning after Evansville scored an unearned run in the first giving Evansville a 2-0 win. Cushman fanned 10 and allowed two hits. Lathrop allowed five hits and struck out five. The championship game was a rematch with the Portage Merchants. Hits by Jon Hazelett and Joe Benash, a wild pitch and an error led to two runs in the top of the 8th, giving Evansville another 2-0 win. Larry Cushman relieved Mike White in the 6th, striking out 5 and allowing no hits. The tournament was filled with throughout. On Friday night on game two, Dave Killian of Independence Hotel Tap retired the first 24 batters, a record, and the Clark Schwock homered to lead off the top of the 9th. Winona Shorty's won the contest 2-1 on Scott Walters sac fly. Shorty's hurler Mitch Grossell set a tournament record by hurling 40 innings and also set a new mark with 35 strikeouts. Evansville's Larry Cushman hurled 17 innings and had an ERA of 0.00 to set a new mark. Mike White hurled 12 innings and also had an ERA of 0.00. Bryan Lathrop of the Portage Merchants was on the mound 36 innings and did not walk a batter. The final games on Saturday night were filled with excitement on both the Pleasantville and Pigeon Falls fields. At Pleasantville, Clark Schwoch homered in the bottom of the 11th as Shorty's eliminated Hotel Tap 6-4 in another Dave Killian - Mitch Grossell duel. At the same time, in Pigeon Falls, Rice Lake Old Milwaukee and Wausau Rep and Brums went a record 12 innings before Eugene Szalecki belted a two run homer to eliminate Rice Lake 5-3. Evansville hurler Mike White tied the mark set by Dave Killian when he retired the first three batters in the championship game, after opening with a perfect game. The runner up Portage Merchants opened with a 4-2 win over Wausau Schmidt's Ballroom, then beat Shorty's 3-0 before losing to Evansville in the losing bracket final, 2-0. They reached the finals with a 2-0 win over Rep & Brums. Lathrop did all the pitching. Hotel Tap teammates Paul Halverson and Jim Killian tied state NAFA records with four hit game performances. Halverson had three singles and a homerun against Pleasantville Lions/Hwy 53 Bar. Killian had four hits in the 11 inning loss to Shorty's. Chuz Gamroth, also of Hotel Tap tied a tournament record by belting two homeruns in the 5-1 win over Pleasantville Lions/Hwy 53. All-State Team: MGR-Jay Hrdlicka, Evansville Bowl MV Pitchers- MV Player-
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